


Hermits' free time

by Black_Narwhal, Not_smart



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Badminton shenanigans, Boomers come to boom, Concorp being capitalists, Concorp thinks something is funny..., Doc doesn't know PvP False means RIPPED AF False, Etho is a good friend too, Local Creeper-cyborg challenges badminton QUEEN and regrets it after 3 hours of playing against her, Mumbo and Grian cheerleading, No Romance, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, PvPers being PvPers, Ren is a Good Friend, Ren is a good cheerleader, Ren is just good, Some NHO shenanigans, and then they don't, just as a group, no actual reference to the NHO
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:42:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24384502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_Narwhal/pseuds/Black_Narwhal, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_smart/pseuds/Not_smart
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 99





	1. Chapter 1

The phone buzzed in False's pocket, startling her as she was reading a book. 

_ <Docm77> Hey, anyone know who these belong to? _

A picture of a set of a badminton racket and a shuttlecock container appeared on the screen. She looked at it, tilting the phone to see the writing on the racket’s handle.  _ F. S. _ it said, in an elegant writing. She typed a reply.

< _ FalseSymmetry> Yeah, the racket is mine. Why ? _

_ <Docm77> Cleaning out the storage at the stadium. Want to pick the equipment up?  _

Doc’s reply came almost instantly. She remembered playing for the HermitCraft team as a teen, before going into PVP as a profession. A soft smile came onto her face as she checked her elytra and flew towards the former stadium. It was in the middle of being renovated, some of the walls completely torn down. The cyborg came into her view, his white lab coat slightly swaying as he walked towards the open area. False landed gracefully in front of him, quietly thanking her boots for helping her stop. 

“I hear these are yours. How did you even get them?” he asked, passing the items to her. She took the racket into her hand, gently rolling it in her palm, testing how it fit her. 

“Former HermitCraft team. Why?” she asked, a smirk crawling onto the creeper’s face, to the girl’s surprise. 

“Huh. You think you’re any good?” Doc asked, amused. This was False’s turn to smirk as she twirled the racket in her hand. 

“Wanna test your skills?” she teased, eyeing his reaction. 

“Oh, you’re on!” the man chuckled, a glint of mischief visible in his non-robotic eye. He went back into the storage room and rustled around a bit, before pulling out a racket with a red  _ 77 _ engraved on it. 


	2. Chapter 2

They walked to the large area in the center, looking around to see if there was a net anywhere nearby. 

_ <Docm77> Anyone have a volleyball or tennis net or something? _

_ <Renthedog> I think I have one. Why r you asking? _

_ <FalseSymmetry> Could you bring it to the stadium? _

_ <Renthedog> Sure, but will you tell me what’s going on? _

False chuckled as she read the text that popped up into their group chat, along with a reply of her own. She pocketed the phone and stretched, leaving the badminton racket laying on the floor. A few minutes later, a very loudly screaming Ren came flying into the open area, barely able to land before he would hit the wall. 

“My dudes, what’s the emergency you needed the Ren-Diggity-Dawg for?” he questioned, looking at Doc, expecting an answer. 

“What did you tell him?” False turned to the cyborg, a slight smirk etching itself onto his face as he tried to look away from her stern expression. 

“What? You don’t think this is urgent?” he tried to sound innocent, still avoiding her gaze but failing, instead staring straight at her, an uncharacteristically sweet smile now finding its way onto his face.

False soon gave up on the staring contest, rolling her eyes. 

“Oh, you are  _ sooo _ going down.” she said, her voice somewhere between a threat and a brag. 

The creeper-cyborg scoffed, trying (and failing) to plaster a serious expression onto his shit-eating grin. 

“We’ll have to see about that.” 

“Hey, ummmm, mah dudes, what are you dudes even planning?” Ren questioned, a confused expression on his face, as he tried to figure out what in the world his two PvP-skilled friends were talking about. 

“Doc here thinks he can beat the reigning badminton champion on the HermitCraft team.” False explained, puffing out her chest and shifting her head to the side, striking a heroic pose. Doc tried to stifle a laugh and quickly brought his arm to his mouth, the small giggle turning into a full-on roar of laughter. Ren looked unphased, shrugging and walking alongside Doc to go and set up the court. False blinked and opened her eyes, looking around, confused at where the boys had gone. A joking but pouty “C’mon!” was thrown at them before she joined in on helping to set up the net. 

They soon set up the net and False went to go get her equipment whilst Doc talked with Ren. 

False flew back to her base, changing into her more sporty clothes and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a bit rogue, but she just tucked it behind her ears and quickly ran to her balcony, spreading her elytra and flying off to the stadium. Her back felt exposed, not having a coat over it, especially as she zipped from her home back to her opponent in record speed. 

“Heh, I thought you chickened out. Guess not.” Doc chuckled, having regained his composure. 

“You wish.” False quickly replied, a smirk on her lips. “Let’s do this, then” she continued, walking to her side of the stadium and stretching a bit. 

“Don’t we need a referee?” Doc asked, rolling his shoulders a bit to warm up. Ren seemingly disappeared into thin air, leaving the two alone in the large area.

His opponent thought about the question and then nodded, agreeing herself. 

_ <Docm77> hey, anyone wanna come watch me beat False in badminton? _

_ <FalseSymmetry> hah, like that’s ever gonna happen but OK… _

_ <Iskall85> I wanna watch. This is gonna be epic, man. The omega battle of doom (TM)  _

_ <Xisuma> At the stadium?  _

_ <FalseSymmetry> Yep _

_ <Xisuma> OK. How about we make it a championship? For the old times’ sake. _

_ <FalseSymmetry> Fine by me. Do we wait? _

__

A few minutes passed before a ping was heard from everyone’s phone again. Their group chat now had an announcement pinned. 

_ HermitCraft team championship: Badminton Battle. Starts in 30 minutes.  _

“I’m guessing that was X’s doing.” Ren commented, coming back with a box of more badminton rackets. There was a very hastily scribbled F.S. on the box. 

“Geez, how many did you have?” Doc questioned, watching False thinking about it. 

“A lot more than I thought, apparently.” she responded, a smile stretching across her face as she walked towards Ren. He passed her the box and went somewhere else, mumbling something about there being two boxes of extra shuttlecocks in the storage room, as well. 

The two PvPers played two matches but soon decided it would be better to wait for the others to show up, to at least have a fair judge on who gets a point. False moved into a fairly peaceful part of the stadium and put her earbuds in, some fast, pump-up music pouring out of them as she started warming up.

Her phone buzzed again and she paused her stretching, taking it out of her pocket to check it. The notification that lit up the screen was from the girls’ group chat. 

<Stressmonster101> You guys part of the championship today? 

<FalseSymmetry> Yeah, I’m gonna kick Doc’s butt, why?

<Stressmonster101> OOOOH, I’m gonna come watch! 

<Stressmonster101> Cleo, can you come with?? I have a surprise!!

<ZombieCleo> Sure. I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.

<Stressmonster101> Yay! <3 

The two girls came walking into the spectating area a few minutes later. They dropped off their stuff and headed towards False. Saying they spooked her was an understatement. She jumped, taking a defensive stance out of instinct as soon as Stress poked her shoulder, wanting to let her know they arrived. The PvPer tensed, slightly embarrassed but she soon regained her composure, a quick “Sorry, it’s -” 

“Instinct, we know.” Cleo completed her sentence for her, smirking as she shook her head in mock disapproval. False laughed a bit and took out her earbuds, her face still slightly redder than usual. 

Stress grabbed both of their hands and dragged both of the girls to her seat in the bleachers. She took a seat and put her bag into her lap, pulling something bright and colorful out of it. The thing was fluffed up as she shook it, revealing two pom poms. She stood up and shook them a bit. They matched the girl’s outfit, the purple and magenta tones being identical to the shades of Stress’ summer dress. It swayed slightly in the wind, the ends tickling her shins and her shoulders were covered by the floral design. Cleo helped her make the dress, assisting her with measuring the fabric and sewing it. Being skilled with making different items of clothing helped her with her career of making different sculptures, often clothed or made out of cloth entirely. 

Stress’ phone chimed and she checked it, smiling at the device before pocketing it again. 

“Iskall is coming, he wonders if you’d go a round or two with him.” Stress explained, and False nodded. “Sure, as long as he’s any good.” she smirked, stretching a bit more. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: In this story, Cleo is a full zombie so she does get affected by sunlight. Ren is also a dog hybrid with a tail and ears, he also has some dog-like instincts.

After a few seconds had passed, the swede in question flew in, quickly dusting himself off and walking towards the three women. 

“Ladies,” he said, a slight bow and a smile on his face. False and Cleo watched him, amused, as he walked Stress to the storage room and talked to her about something related to her campaign to be the leader of the HermitCraft sports team, the two talking about how similar it is to being mayor. 

False walked back over to the spot where the game would take place and started stretching and warming up again, whilst talking to Cleo who was casually making sure to stay in the shadow. Just then, Doc approached, coming from around the corner, talking with Ren. The cyborg had gone and changed, now dressed in a tight, sleeveless white shirt and a pair of black shorts with red stripes down the side. 

His mouth fell open for a split second as he saw False stretching before Ren nudged him bringing him back to reality. “Shit. When did False get buff?” he asked, gulping, now starting to doubt his chances of winning. 

“Dude, have you been living under a rock or something? Geez man, you should know False can do some serious damage.” Ren answered, realizing way too late he made his friend even more nervous. False soon realized the two men were staring at her and she flexed, showing off her muscles even more, a grin on her face. Doc shook himself out of the ‘What kind of shit did you get into this time, 77?’ thoughts, clearing his head and smirking, regaining his confidence. 

“False, you know I have some strength myself, right?” he said, his smile growing as he posed, flexing his own muscles, the metal of his arm gleaming in the sunlight. 

“Yeah, sure, but are you fast enough?” his opponent said, effectively wiping the smirk off his smug face. She tightened her shoelaces, muttering something under her breath as her hair went crazy, spilling everywhere and tickling her face and neck. 

The trio continued to stand around and waited for some of the others to arrive. As False went back over to Cleo in the corner, Ren started talking to Doc about how False kicked his ass in martial arts, even though he took classes in it for ages. 

“Yeah, dude, she knows PvP sword and hand-to-hand combat. She used to be in the HermitCraft sports team, too! If I remember, she was the captain for almost three years, before going into PvP.” the dog hybrid said, scratching the back of his neck and grinning as he remembered how great she had been as their leader.

“You do realize I was the captain before she was, right?” the cyborg chuckled, chest swelling with pride, watching Ren close his mouth to think. 

He then lightly slapped Docs arm, “Two and a half months, dude! That doesn’t count for much! It was only ‘cuz Joe had some artistic break-through with his poetry or something, I don’t know.” he responded, starting to wonder why Doc boasted about something that happened just because no other classmate of the cyborg’s wanted the role or at least hadn’t had the guts to stand up to him for it. 

As Ren continued to berate Doc for his ego, three men armed to the teeth with TnT and clad in half burned up outfits landed not too far away, having just recently been called in for a quick demolition job.

“Guys! I swear I’ll be more careful this time! Just give me another shot, I promise I won’t get blown up!” Bdubs shouted over Tango and Impulse’s laughter as the gate swung open. Everyone's eyes quickly landed on the trio, who stopped dead in their tracks feeling suddenly very awkward. Ren was the first to speak up.

“Are you dudes here to watch the match too?” His tail beginning to wag a bit behind him.

“Huh? A match? No, we were just told that we were going to blow this place up today.” Impulse said, pulling out his shovels and quickly swapping them from hand to hand. However, people's attention quickly shifted from his masterful shovel juggling.

“Oooooh,” Tango exclaimed as he looked up from his phone, “We really need to pay more attention to the group chat…um, well guys, apparently there's some kind of badminton championship going on today? And in fact... judging from X’s message from about thirty minutes ago, it’s about to start.”

“Really? Well great! I’m always up for a bit of entertainment!” Bdubs yelled out, almost skipping over to the stands, stopping for only a second when he saw Doc only to quickly go over and give him a quick fist bump. He soon plopped down next to Ren as the two began to talk about the upcoming match.

Tango and Impulse watched their third member so excitedly give up on the job. They looked at each other, made eye contact, and shrugged, deciding that this was probably going to be just as fun as blowing it up might’ve been. At that same moment, Iskall and Stress returned from their discussion, still giggling from a joke and very soon noticing the three new faces in the stands.

“Hey guys!” Stress said as she came over to greet her friends, responses of hey and how’s it going being heard. She suddenly focused her attention on the two people standing on the court, ignoring the snide remarks they kept saying back and forth, “So, are we going to get this thing started or what!” She clapped her hands in front of her as Doc’s face fell a bit, very clearly realizing that this was really happening and he may just get his ass handed to him.

“D- ehm…” Doc started, clearing his throat after a voice crack, “Don’t we need a referee?” Everyone began to mumble and looked around to see if anyone was going to volunteer. A loud sigh could then be heard, everyone looking to the darker corner where a certain zombie was standing up.

She straightened the wide-brimmed hat on her head as she came into the light, a slight hiss being heard before she began, “I’m clearly the most responsible here-” small shouts of defiance interrupted her, “Oh please, you all know it’s true!” The shouts quickly turned into small mumbles, leaving her to continue, “And, while I hate the sun, I’ll be your guy’s ref for now.” 

She then took her position at the edge of the court, Doc and False splitting from the center after a quick handshake and readying themselves as False prepped the shuttlecock for her serve.


	4. Chapter 4

She leaned forward, eyeing her opponent through the net as she aligned the racket with the birdie, taking a breath to focus. Swinging her right arm, as if to check, she simply loosened the grip of her left hand and swung upright with her dominant one, effectively giving the small object enough velocity to now fly through the air, reaching Doc’s side of the field quite quickly, landing on the edge of his racket and flying back towards the cyborg’s opponent. False extended her hand in front of her lazily, catching and sending the shuttlecock back to the other side of the court, right into the left corner. It missed the edge of the man’s racket by a few centimeters, flying above it and landing in the very edge of the field, a tiny portion bordering the outside. 

“Point for False!” Cleo said a hand lifted up and pointing towards her as she grinned, happily taking the first point of the match. However, Doc was not going to back down that easy.

“What? Oh, you gotta be kidding me! That was clearly out of the field!” the cyborg exclaimed, voice rising steadily. He turned sideways a bit, one hand pointing towards the shuttlecock and the other resting on his hip, holding his racket, “Take a look for yourself!”

“Ok, fine, you really want me to check it?” Cleo asked, already knowing that it was definitely inside of the court, but not finding it worth it to anger the creeper hybrid more. Doc then nodded, crossing his arms as the zombie stood up and walked over to the object in question, looking at it and facing Doc again. “You really think this is out of the field?” she said, a half-smile making its way onto her face as she walked back towards the center of the court. 

“You don’t think it’s in, do you? Look, a part is out of the field, that should definitely be a point for me!” the cyborg argued, trying to convince the referee it shouldn’t be considered a point for his opponent. Cleo only sighed in response to this, seriously beginning to wonder if this was worth it.

She then turned her attention to the other girl on the court, “False, I'm sorry about this, but do you just want to re-do this point? I just really don’t want to bother arguing with Doc about this.” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she looked at the girl in question, an offended scoff being heard from behind her. False simply nodded and shrugged, feeling sorry for her friend.

“Sure, doesn’t really matter to me.” She said, moving back to her side of the court and readying herself for the serve. 

Doc then picked up the shuttlecock, rolling his shoulders to prepare himself. He sent the small object to False’s side, the young woman easily sending it back, having him jump to catch it. They played for about two minutes as he kept sending the shuttlecock all over the place, making False run from one side of the court to the other. She managed to return them all, some more gracefully than others. A few hits later, the birdie was flying towards Doc, and he reached out to hit it, only for his arm to freeze in mid-air going stick straight and making him unable to hit the birdie back over. The cyborg was surprised and started trying to move his arm back and forth, only for it to smack him in the face a few moments later as he gained back the ability to move it.

Some snickers were heard and Doc whipped around to glare at the people in the stands. “What!” he snapped, a slight hiss like a fuse was lit being heard, “you’ve never seen robotics malfunction!” It went quiet as the air tensed, and Ren then sprang up from his seat and rushed to Doc’s side, noticing the signs that something bad was about to happen.

Quickly taking his arm, Ren began to lead Doc away towards the locker room, “C’mon dude, I think you need to get a quick drink and take a break.” His voice was rushed and Doc tried to shrug him off but Ren's grip held strong on his non-metal arm as he stumbled along behind him. As soon as they got through the door, Ren turned around and grabbed his shoulders like he had done before “Okay, breathe Doc, in and out like we’ve practiced.”

Doc tried to get him to let go, fighting against him until he began to take in slow and steady breaths. Slowly, the creeper hybrid began to relax, his muscles loosening as the hiss of the fuse died down and he fell into the arms of his friend. Ren hugged him, rubbing small circles onto his back as Doc began to regain his focus.

“I’m sorry…” said the small, muffled voice or Doc into Ren’s shoulder, “Everyone was having so much fun and I just messed it up…”

“Hey,” Ren interrupted, pulling away to look at him, “You just got a little worked up is all, happens to the best of us, you’re just passionate about this and that’s nothing to be sorry for.” He then looked up at the creeper hybrid, cupping the taller man's cheek and feeling him lean into it as he looked up at him. “Now, go back out there and kick Falsie’s ass! You’ve got this,” he said, his voice sweet and filled with affection as Doc's eyes began to light up.

“Yeah...yeah you’re right! I’m the Doc Monster, I've got this!” Doc exclaimed, reinvigorated, and seemingly ready to take on the world. He quickly pulled Ren into one last hug, squeezing tight “Thank you, you’ve always been here to help me, even since high school, I couldn’t do this without you.” 

Ren squeezed back quickly, “Of course my dude, I’ll always be here for you, now let’s not keep them waiting any longer.” They shared one last smile and Doc pushed the door open back into the sunlight.

As this was going on, a man in a bee mask and a black suit landed just nearby, pulling out his microphone and his pad of paper as he jotted down some quick notes, knowing he was already a little late, expecting the match to be in full swing. Although, as he entered the large stadium he looked around and just saw people standing around looking concerned instead of an active game going on.

“Well, what's this then?” Xisuma said, drawing everyone's attention to him and away from their worried conversations.

“Doc began to freak out and Ren pulled him away, we aren’t really sure what's going on-” Bdubs began, only to be interrupted by the sound of the locker room door swinging shut, everyone turning their heads to see Doc looking more ready than ever and Ren following close behind, beaming at how excited his friend was and how easily he had been able to recover.

“Well, what's everyone just standing around for, let’s get back to playing!” Doc yelled out, picking his discarded racket back up from the ground and readying himself for the next set. False, with a hint of concern still on her face, moved back into position only to be interrupted by Cleo.

“Wait! I’m no longer the most responsible person here, X, it’s your turn to deal with this, I’m out!” She yelled out, throwing her hands into the air and retreating back to the comfort of the dark corner so she wouldn’t have to be in the sunlight for any longer.

X, now thoroughly confused, stepped up to the center of the court, “Um...ok...uh, players ready...and Go!” False then launched the shuttlecock over and the match began again with much more energy than they had had before.

Over at the stands, Ren returned to his spot next to Bdubs, cheering for Doc as he sat down. Bdubs began to speak, “Is everything-” A whoop from Ren interrupted him as Doc hit a close call back to False, “Is everything okay with Doc?” Bdubs finally got out.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, he’s fine now,” Ren replied, shrugging off the question like the creeper hybrid hadn’t almost had a meltdown on the court. “However...Doc could use some more support from the stands, y’know how he loves the attention, my dude.” Bdubs laughed, knowing exactly what he meant, this was Doc they were talking about after all.

“Yeah, I gotcha, and I know exactly who to contact!” Bdubs exclaimed, quickly pulling out his phone and typing a quick text to he and Doc’s old buddies, Etho and Beef, knowing that the two of them were exactly the people needed to hype up their old friend.


	5. Chapter 5

Doc and False panted heavily as X declared yet another point to Doc. “Can we take a break? I just need some water, you’re giving me a work out Falsie!” Doc said with a laugh as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. False gave a nod with a shaky laugh and X declared a short break.

Bdubs got a ping on his phone, turning towards Ren whose ears perked up when he saw the mischievous smile on Bdubs’ face. Ren then stood back up when Bdubs confirmed Doc’s friends were on their way. Doc had a giant smile on his face as chugged from his water bottle. False huffed and readjusted her sneaker, trying to compose herself a bit during the break. As she stood back up, Ren called her over, a quite enthusiastic tone to his voice. 

“Hey, Falsie, can I ask you a favor?” he asked, fiddling with the edge of his T-shirt. 

“Is it important? We were just about to start the next round,” she said, turning to look at Doc who was laughing loudly with Bdubs at something the builder had said.

His ears drooped a bit as he looked up into the woman’s gaze as she turned back with his best attempt at puppy dog eyes. “Can you wait a bit? I want to surprise Doc and just... Please?” he let his lower lip quiver a bit. False sighed and ran her hand through her hair, staring into the hybrid’s eyes for a few seconds, thinking. 

“Fine. make sure Xisuma knows, though.” the taller woman responded, a warm smile etching its way onto her face. She patted the hybrid’s head as she watched his tail start wagging, smirking at how his face lit up with a smile as she gave her go-ahead. 

Unbeknownst to the pair, Doc was watching the interaction. Doc got a smile on his own face, watching the two of them as Bdubs continued to talk, especially after his best friend’s tail started wagging like crazy. The cyborg stood across the field, staring at the hybrid with a soft smile. He was shaken out of his trance by the badminton racket hitting his foot. He yelped in surprise and all eyes were, once again, on him. False snickered when he muttered a barely audible "Shit!" under his breath, along with a few indistinguishable German curse words. 

Ren was already talking to Xisuma by the time Doc picked up the racket. X listened to the hybrid's plan and nodded with a small smile.

"Can we extend this break a bit? I think we have to wait for the others because I want them to see this. That okay with you guys?" The referee asked, hoping to get approval from the two on the court. False nodded and Doc looked confused. "Why? But I was just winning, c'mon man! Ugh… Fine..." He tried to protest, but gave up - he needed to get a break before he would start hissing again. 

Doc sat down on the bench next to the court and soon felt someone slide into his slide. Looking up, he saw Ren beaming at him, a slight breeze on his back from his tails wagging.

“You’re killing it out there my dude!” Ren exclaimed as he threw an arm around Doc’s shoulder, the man letting out a low chuckle as he brought his hand up to Rens.

“I’m doing my best,” Doc said as he looked over to False chatting away with Stress, Cleo, and Joe who had shown up at some point, “But she’s really kicking my ass, I’m not quite sure how much longer I’m going to be able to hold my own.”

“Oh please! You’re doing great, trust me, you’ve got this dude,” Ren said as he hugged Doc closer, reassuringly nuzzling his shoulder, “plus, I’ve got a little surprise coming for you.”

“Is that what you were over there talking to Falsie about?”

“So you were watching me?” The two men burst into laughter, but quickly looked when they heard rockets and laughter from up above.

The laughter, of course, came from non-other than the two men flying through the sky, taunting each other as they landed down just outside of the court. 

Beef smoothed down his apron and ran a hand through his hair as the last few chuckles left his mouth. “Well, it seems this is the place, I hadn’t even realized they were getting rid of this place, it’s been here as long as I can remember,” He exclaimed as he looked around.

“Yeah, apparently they called the boomers to do it, which is why Bdubs was here, but apparently they found Doc and False getting ready for a match instead,” Etho responded, reading through the text messages on his phone. Suddenly, the gate burst open and a very excited creeper hybrid burst through and tackled the two of them in a hug.

“Hey, Doc!” Beef yelled out, stumbling from the weight of a giant half-creeper half-metal man throwing himself at his two friends, “We knew you missed us but goodness!”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you just knocked all of the air out of my lungs.” Etho choked out as he tried to get some of that lost air back, “It hasn’t even been that long since you’ve seen us!”

“Sorry guys, but still! I didn’t even know you were coming! Now you can be here to see me kick Falsie’s ass!” Doc yelled out, getting very excited as he ran back in only to throw himself onto Ren for a hug. Their laughter could be heard as Beef and Etho followed the excited hybrid into the stadium. Etho quickly waved to False as they came in, but his attention was quickly pulled away by Bdubs running up to the two of them.

“Welcome guys! Glad you could make it! Doc’s losing and he needs to be cheered on!” Bdubs exclaimed loudly, as he tended to do which of course warranted a hey from Doc on the other side of the court. “Oh c’mon Doc! You know it’s true!” Bdubs yelled out as he turned away, the creeper hybrid only huffing in response, crossing his arms and pouting. Ren laughed at this and pat his shoulder.

“So you called us here to watch Doc try not to lose to False at badminton?” Etho said, sounding very skeptical and getting an excited nod from Bdubs in response, “Alright, sounds like a plan, hey Stress! Do you have any extra pom poms!” Stress perked up at this and pulled another pair of bright magenta pom poms from her bag. Etho then made his way over to her to grab them, handed one to beef, then sat down waving it as all the other hermits chuckled around them, all but Doc who just facepalmed.

“Well, I think that’s enough shenanigans for this break!” X yelled out, hoping to get things back on track, only for two other people to crash into a heap in the middle of the court. X sighed at the zombie and bearded man looked up from where they crashed with a smile, the zombie adjusting the obnoxious hat on his head.

“Hello X! We heard you weren’t able to report because you had to ref so someone called us in!” Zloy exclaimed as he climbed off of Pixl who rubbed his face where he had hit the ground.

“Sorry for the rough landing, hope we didn’t interrupt anything!” Pixl said as he brought Zloy over to the shade, smiling at the still sighing Xisuma.

“No, no, no, you’re fine, thank you for coming anyway. Now False, Doc, are you two ready to get started again?”

“Hell yeah we are! Let’s go Falsie!” Doc exclaimed, giving Ren a high five, picking up his racket and heading back over to the court. Whoops and cheers from his new cheerleaders could be heard from the stands as he puffed his chest out in pride.

False let out a breathy laugh, taking one more drink from her water bottle. Stress and Iskall cheered for her and Cleo gave her a thumbs up from the shade as she headed back over, ready to face Doc for yet another match.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took a lot longer, guys! Narwhal got caught up with writing a one-shot then got hit with writer's block, and Smarty just had a ton of writer's block too, but we eventually got to writing a new chapter, so we hope you guys enjoy!


End file.
